This little known story has met a just conclusion, as Sophia Stewart, African American author of The Matrix will finally receive her just due from the copyright infringement of her original work!!!

A six-year dispute has ended involving Sophia Stewart, the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers. Stewart’s allegations, involving copyright infringement and racketeering, were received and acknowledged by the Central District of California, Judge Margaret Morrow presiding.

Stewart, a New Yorker who has resided in Salt Lake City for the past five years, will recover damages from the films, The Matrix I, II and III, as well as The Terminator and its sequels. She will soon receive one of the biggest payoffs in the history of Hollywood , as the gross receipts of both films and their sequels total over 2.5 billion dollars.

Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript, ‘The Third Eye,’ copyrighted in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works..

According to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film, in an attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The investigation also stated that ‘credible witnesses employed at Warner Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the Wachowski Brothers.’ These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart’s original work and that it had been ‘often used during preparation of the motion pictures.’ The defendants tried, on several occasions, to have Stewart’s case dismissed, without success.

Stewart has confronted skepticism on all sides, much of which comes from Matrix fans, who are strangely loyal to the Wachowski Brothers. One on-line forum, entitled Matrix Explained has an entire section devoted to Stewart. Some who have researched her history and writings are open to her story.

Others are suspicious and mocking. ‘It doesn’t bother me,’ said Stewart in a phone interview last week, ‘I always knew what was true.’

Some fans, are unaware of the case or they question its legitimacy, due to the fact that it has received little to no media coverage. Though the case was not made public until October of 2003, Stewart has her own explanation, as quoted at aghettotymz.com:

‘The reason you have not seen any of this in the media is because Warner Brothers parent company is AOL-Time Warner…. this GIANT owns 95 percent of the media… let me give you a clue as to what they own in the media business… New York Times papers/magazines, LA Times papers/magazines, People Magazine, CNN news, Extra, Celebrity Justice, Entertainment Tonight, HBO, New Line Cinema, DreamWorks, Newsweek, Village Roadshow and many, many more! They are not going to report on themselves. They have been suppressing my case for years.’

Fans who have taken Stewart’s allegations seriously, have found eerie mythological parallels, which seem significant in a case that revolves around the highly metaphorical and symbolic Matrix series. Sophia, the Greek goddess of wisdom has been referenced many times in speculation about Stewart. In one book about the Goddess Sophia, it reads, ‘The black goddess is the mistress of web creation spun in her divine matrix.’

Although there have been outside implications as to racial injustice (Stewart is African American), she does not feel that this is the case. ‘This is all about the Benjamins,’ said Stewart. ‘It’s not about money with me. It’s about justice.’

Stewart’s future plans involve a record label, entitled Popsilk Records, and a motion picture production company, All Eyez On Me, in reference to God. ‘I wrote The Third Eye to wake people up, to remind them why God put them here. There’s more to life than money,’ said Stewart. ‘My whole to the world is about God and good and about choice, about spirituality over ‘technocracy’.’

If Stewart represents spirituality, then she truly has prevailed over the ‘technocracy’ represented in both the Terminator and the Matrix, and now, ironically, by their supposed creators.

Stewart is currently having discussions with CBS about a possible exclusive story and has several media engagements in the near future to nationally publicize her victory. June 13th 2004. Sophia Stewart’s press release read: ‘The Matrix & Terminator movie franchises have made world history and have ultimately changed the way people view movies and how Hollywood does business, yet the real truth about the creator and creation of these films continue to elude the masses because the hidden secret of the matter is that these films were created and written by a Black woman…a Black woman named Sophia Stewart. But Hollywood does not want you to know this fact simply because it would change history. Also it would encourage our Black children to realize a dream and that is…nothing is impossible for them to achieve!’

BIOGRAPHY

SOPHIA STEWART – “Mother of the Matrix”

Child prodigy, prolific writer, poet and creative genius are just a few of the terms used to describe Sophia Stewart. Growing up in New York City, Stewart’s intellectual prowess was recognized early when she passed the New York State Board of Regents Examination. This feat amazed her teachers, highlighted her talents and catapulted her directly into college from junior high school.

Stewart enters the City University of New York and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in journalism and minors in law and psychology. While attending the University, she studied under the guidance of many celebrated authors and writers such as; Max Segal, a former journalist of the New York Times, publisher, editor, essayist, and critic, Emile Capouya, and Paul Cherry, a playwright for Broadway. She, also, served as an intern for television at the Public Broadcasting Station WNET Thirteen, where she worked with Oscar winning film documentary producer, Perry Miller Adato. Her graduating class was honored with a special letter/citation from President Jimmy Carter.

In 1979, her love and skills for writing motivated her to move from New York to Los Angeles where she studied cinema at the University of Southern California (USC). It was there she had the opportunity to study film under the auspices of producer Leon Roth; father of Eric Roth, screenwriter of the movie Forrest Gump. By the early 80’s she had started writing professionally. It was through her association with the entertainer Janet Jackson that she became involved in a special project that enabled her to write her first television scripts entitled “My Special Love” and “Blue Short”. During this period Ms. Stewart also had the opportunity to work at Columbia Pictures in the office of Vice President Dick Berres. It was at Columbia Pictures where Dick Berres supported her aspirations to write and gave Sophia five first draft scripts. One was called “From Here to Eternity”. She is an accomplished award-winning poet who has published over one hundred poems. Most recently, Stewart was the recipient of the 2006 NAACP Rosa Parks Award for her contribution to the film industry.

Stewart, a gifted writer visionary has also worked for individual celebrities who includes former Knick player Dick Barnett, Louis Gossett Jr., and Shelly Winters. Her background is diverse and many of her writings reflect groundbreaking literature that is undeniable before it’s time.

Sophia Stewart, Mother ofthe Matrix as she is affectionately known, wrote her Epic The ThirdEye while she was still in college. This ingenuous work, copy written since 1981, is the foundation and contains the core elements of the blockbuster films: The Terminator and The Matrix.

Sophia Stewart’s brilliance lies in her ability to create characters, stories and cinematic magic. In The Third Eye, Stewart has transformed comprehensive metaphysical and spiritual concepts into the most revered science fiction films of the 20th century. The Terminator and The Matrix films are among the most artistically phenomenal and financially profitable film franchises in Hollywood’s history. These works have currently grossed over $2.5 billion dollars and continue to generate revenue, internationally.

Stewart’s current writings are ground-breaking science fiction lore which are destined to supercede the extra ordinary success of The Matrix and establish Sophia Stewart as one of the most profound master writers of the 21st century.

Please give more information on this as the same wording has been floating around on the net for a while now… people would like to research the matter further, what court heard the case? Who wrote the article you have re-printed? Have to separate fact from fiction here.

If you really REALLY think that this author wrote this “Matrix” I can only say that she has plagiarized the idea.

If you can watch this… http://youtu.be/jXeVgEs4sOo it will illumiate you to the fact that Phillip K Dick, Author of many fine books that gave us films like Bladerunner, Minority Report, The Adjustment Bureau, Pay Check and many more films just like it.

In his interview from 1977 in France, he describes everything that you have seen in those films.

So how can this author claiming that they wrote the matrix be so bold faced about it when the evidence here.

Some people have a hard time believing that a black woman can come up with ideas as found in the Matrix. Unfortunately, history has proven that White folks took liberally from Black folks – after all they were property and whatever your property has is yours. There are so many inventions, recipes etc that were first created by oppressed folks for which they were never credited but time will tell. Whoever wants to believe this is an Urban legend is free to do so but as far as I am concerned, I go with this Author who claims that her ideas were used in the creation of the Matrix for which she was not credited or paid. I don’t care what the courts find – fact is Sophia Stewart is like David trying to fight Goliath. Sorry mark I will not follow the white rabbit, not this time

You have to be joking. You need to read Philip K Dick, whose work is from two decades before the subject of the piece. That said EVERYBODY rips off PKD and the results are awesome. She simply did what anyone would do and so very well. Kudos on the settlement.

This never happened, it’s a hoax. She didn’t win any money, as the case was thrown out. I’m not sure why this story keeps popping up and why people don’t take the time to do their research on it. It’s now become an urban legend.

I’ve read her stuff – they are horrible and the ideas are ripped off from Frank Herbert and other legendary writers who predate her. You can’t just “makes characters Black” and then posture it as good writing. It takes more than that.

If you are a great writer, your work will show for itself. It is 2012, there’s no excuse for this level of poor journalism and ignorance. The “victory” claims case simply doesn’t exist and she’s a fraud to not correct people about this egregious error.

I listened to an interview with Sophia just yesterday, on the web radio page ”veritas”–her story is amazing–and I am thrilled that she has received due justice. The link, for those who doubt this story is: http://www.veritasradio.com/guests/2012/05may/VS-120504-sstewart.php
Sophia has a wisdom about God and our universe that few possess…I would strongly recommend you check out the link and listen to her story. I am ordering her book, too. It is time to wake up, everyone, to the truth that Sophia speaks about. I wish you all the open-mindedness to search for the truth. What she speaks of goes way beyond a court case, as anyone who is conscious of the changes happening to this earth, could tell you. Thank you for the great story :-) check out the interview!! :-):-)

Ellison alleged that James Cameron’s film The Terminator drew from material from Ellison’s “Soldier”[19 Sep 1964] and “Demon with a Glass Hand”[17 Oct 1964] episodes of The Outer Limits. Hemdale, the production company and the distributor Orion Pictures, settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, and added a credit to the film which acknowledged Ellison’s work.
So if Cameron used work from 1964 then how did she write it in the mid-80’s?
Also please read: http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/31/magazine/tm-mothermatrix31

I don’t know but you are free to believe what you want. Everyone has a right to their beliefs. There are no right and wrong – it is all perspectives. So proving anything in this regard is a moot cause at this point.